Flores heads to Houston, and the Rangers' offseason gets messier

Randy Flores is the new Astros general manager, the team announced Friday. He's a former major league pitcher, and he spent time in the Rangers organization before Houston came calling. That's a front-office loss Texas didn't need heading into what is already a complicated offseason.

The roster churn around it has been brisk. Joc Pederson, Kyle Higashioka, and Jakob Junis all declined their mutual options, so three roster spots opened up in a single day. Aidan Curry was added to the 40-man the same afternoon. That's four transactions in one news cycle, and the decision-making now falls on whoever is steering the front office without Flores.

The on-field situation gives whoever's in charge plenty to sort through. Six players finished the season on the 60-day IL — Leiter, Winn, Baumler, Corniell, Beeks, and Quantrill — and the catcher depth question I wrote about earlier this week isn't going away. The Pederson and Higashioka departures thin the roster further before a single free agent has been signed.

It's early in the offseason and front-office movement is normal. But losing an experienced executive to a division rival while the roster is simultaneously shedding depth is the kind of overlap that makes a rebuild feel less orderly than it should.